Find beautiful fall colors in these public lands

As the weather gets colder and the leaves brighten, the USA’s public lands light up with color, from Alaska to Maine, from mountains to deserts. Scroll through the gallery above for pictures provided by the U.S. Department of the Interior, and find more on their instagram feed. And after the sun goes down, these spots are perfect for some stargazing:

Beautiful stargazing opportunities at public lands

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At Arches National Park in Utah, campers can connect with the past. While settling in for the night, watch our galaxy overhead as stars uncloak one by one. In a short time, the night sky fills with thousands of glittering jewels — too many to count. Arches National Park’s work as a Dark Sky Park has helped promote the natural beauty of the sky and its struggle against light pollution. Manish Mamtani,

Called “The Badlands” by nineteenth-century French trappers because of the difficult terrain to cross, Badlands National Park is anything but “bad.” The park offers views that can stretch over 50 miles and the isolation required to see some killer night skies. On any given night, visitors can see more than 7,500 stars.

The Cadiz Dunes are some of the most remote landscape in California. Encompassing over 19,000 acres of the Cadiz Dune system, these public lands give you plenty of space to find the perfect spot to watch the stars.

Canyonlands National Park offers stunning landscapes, along with deep geological and cultural history. This Utah park showcases the incredible effects of the long-term erosion of a landscape made of sedimentary rock. Camp at Island in the Sky to see some of these breathtaking views and a couple thousand stars throughout the night. Emily Ogden, National Park Service